The boy with the star shaped charm
by cataclysmic-reactor
Summary: In a world where everyone was running after some far off goal, he just wanted to be with his friends.


**Welp, This is my 3rd try in I don't know how many years at attempting a Kingdom Hearts AU. No body really seems to read it or like it I suppose, maybe it's the idea of a KH AU or maybe I'm just really really bad at this. Either way is fine, this fandom is an obsession of sorts so on with the story.**

 **Prologue I: Calling**

For the umpteenth time I sighed and asked myself what I was thinking when I'd signed up for the musketeers. Sitting up in my bed at the crack of dawn I let out a huff of air, and then I willed myself to get out of bed and grabbed my stuff.

It consisted of the standard uniform; a rapier and a pair of boots to complete the attire. The cold air hit my face as soon as I left the safe warmth of the barracks, gone were any remaining dregs of sleep I felt.

A slight smirk came to my lips, if you told anyone in my old hometown that Sora would one day be waking up at the crack of dawn they'd probably laugh in your face and then have you carted off to the looney bin.

A quick shower and a change of clothes later, I made sure I'd made sure to pin the fluer de lis in place. It wouldn't do to not wear the symbol of the musketeers, lest the captain have my hide. He took his job to seriously, heck he took everything too seriously. Rumor around the platoon was that life at home wasn't to kind too him.

I was of mind that he wasn't too kind too life at home. After a moment I let go of the thoughts about the captain, frankly it wasn't any of my business what went on in his personal life even if it made my life a bit difficult.

I didn't plan on spending the rest of my life in the musketeers anyways. I would get out one day and join the king's guard; I would go to where Riku and Kairi were. I would be reunited with my friends, I'd promised them after all.

I made my way to the musketeer corps training center, better known as the training yard to us mere soldiers. It was where men were forged in the fires of combat, or so the captain liked to say. He had a way about things, certain flair one could say.

Reaching the training yard I couldn't help but let out a thankful breath. I was on time; the last thing I wanted was to do extra laps around the yard while being chased by the captain's pets. They were scary and I was lazy, not the best of combinations.

I stood with the others forming neat rows, looking around I saw some trying to shine their shoes with the back of their pants while others made sure their crest was in place, the absence of either was a punishable infraction. The absence of both, well I'd heard horror stories that I'd not rather bring to mind at the moment.

I let my mind wander as we all waited for the captain to greet us with his magnanimous self, note the sarcasm if you will. The training yard was aptly named; a large yard encamped with halls that held training equipment and few emergency barracks. Stairs were right next to the halls in the open, they lead up to a second floor which acted as the captain's quarters. The training yard led off to three different areas.

There was the Tower, inaccessible thanks to the bridge leading to it having collapsed. Then there was the shore, where I liked to go on my off days, the sand and the waves reminded me of home. In the distance one could make out the outline of a big city, it was said to have been there for a very long time, Mont-Saint Michel. A boat could get you there but it was forbidden and nobody was keen enough to try their luck against the captain or the rumors of ghostly wanderings throughout the city.

Finally there was the opera, which was only for the higher ranked officers and only when they were entertaining royalty. That suited me just fine, it seemed like a stuffy activity and I absolutely abhorred starched collars.

I was pulled out of my reverie when the beagle sounded the arrival of our dear captain. He strode forward with all the arrogance and superiority a king might have had but grace and dignity were decidedly absent.

Captain Pete or that piddling pile of pudge Pete as some in the platoon referred to him was looking as bulbous as ever. How he became captain is a mystery to all of us.

"Attention, soldiers. His liege Captain Pete of the Musketeers", a bored voice sounded throughout the yard.

I, among others resisted the urge to snort. I was barely able to though, old habits die hard but thankfully it went unnoticed.

The oldest of the three triplets hysterically named the beagle boys, no one knew their name and no one care much to know either so they named them after the beagle they took turns blowing, had just called us to attention.

I nudged the guy next to me and grinned while whispering, "Big Beagle is on point today."

He snickered in reply. The Beagles were the captain's lackeys; no one liked them but no liked to mess with them either. The results could hardly be pleasant. They were called big, medium and small for ease of differing between them; creativity is dead by the sound of it.

"All right you chumps, listen close. Some higher ups will be arriving after a week to take a look at the facility. Now usually I don't care much about those stuck up, bunch of good for nuthin', hoity toity do gooders but rumor has it that someone very special is coming this time around.", he said while giving all the stink eye.

He really only accomplished looking slightly constipated. "Now, I fancy myself a promotion and if any of you and I mean any single one of you mess that up for me. Well, you'll find out firsthand how I am when you decide to make me angry, now on with your daily routine!"

With that he spun on his heel, an admirable feat what with his hulking gut and walked away. With that we all dispersed to begin the day's duties. A certain number went for patrol and others went to guard stations.

I stayed in the yard for today was training day, though it wasn't as fun as it sounded. We did run of the mill exercises and then closed the session out with multiple one on ones, which at least was of interest to everyone.

Whatever it entailed was a sure shot better than going on rounds of the perimeter or yawning while staring at nothing standing like buffoons during guard duty.

An hour later when we were done with the laps, pushups, pull ups etc. It was time for the fun to begin. We formed a circle and names were called at random, the first to yield or be disarmed was declared the loser.

It was fun to analyze the others as they came to the ring one by one. Trying to predict their moves, who overstepped, who left their guard open, who favored what specific habits. It was always a learning experience.

When my name was called up my opposite number groaned, "Really, him again. For once I'd like to be paired up with someone who I may be able to beat."

I just sniggered, "Oh come on Kooma, you big baby. Take your shots like a man or would you like me to tell bunny that you're scared of little old me."

Heckling ensued from around us. Bunny was one of the maids that worked at the training yard. All and sundry knew of Kooma's crush on bunny, that and his temper. Now don't get me wrong, I wasn't the best fighter here but I was more than decent thanks to all those spars with Riku in our childhood.

Spars with him didn't make me better outright but Riku was a heck of a lot faster than these guys and a battle prodigy to boot. Trying to keep up with him had been a chore and half, my pride had taken a beating but I'll admit that I lost a whole lot more than I won.

However, it had gotten me to a level where bigger guys like Kooma were easier to handle than most other opponents. Especially if I got them all riled up, like now when I mentioned Bunny. It worked like a charm too, his nostrils flared and the grip on his rapier tightened, he lunged. Straight into nothing as I side stepped, his big frame unbalanced, I went to town on him. Overhead swing, thrust, slash and finally a spinning strike.

He was down before he knew it, losing his grip on his weapon. I returned to my place in the crowd, he got up grumbling and did much the same though he was a bit red faced from the embarrassment.

I'd probably treat the big guy to a drink to make up for it. The guy standing next to me, Peepsta I think his name was, suddenly spoke up, "As usual, you fight like a brute. The rapier isn't a weapon suited to you my young friend. Where did you learn to fight anyway?"

I could only shrug, "It's not my fault the musketeers only allow for this weapon. I'm self-taught what's it to you?"

I felt indignant, it was a bit of a sore subject for me that I'd never been allowed to formally train not that I'd had the means to either.

It made me appreciate Riku's friendship even more.

Peepsta let out a chuckle, "Don't misunderstand me Sora, the fact that you can hold your own against many here without formal training is nothing to be ashamed about. The rapier however is a weapon of elegance; a certain pizzazz is required to wield it. You on the other hand wouldn't know the difference between elegance and elephant so to speak."

He then left my side as he was called over by another soldier.

I couldn't help but mutter under my breath. "Yeah well, I don't know what an elephant is so of course I would know the difference, so there."

It was a childish sentiment but I was only eighteen, not really an adult by the standards of the world. I'd also never seen an elephant in real life, only seen them in books. They were found in far off lands like Agrabah, Pride rock and some huge breeds were found in the Deep Jungle.

It seemed some very useless information from my time at school had managed to stick in my head. So much out there that I had yet to see, hopefully someday I would.

With training over, I hit the baths. Once I felt refreshed I went for guard duty, I despised guard duty. It was in my nature to want to move around so suffice to say a task where I had to stand still for a few hours was the worst form of torture.

At noon I was relieved from my post and as usual, no world ending incident had happened during my shift. Today was the day I got of've work early and it was surprisingly nice weather so I decided to hit the shore. Running out the training yard gates

I hailed the nearest carriage. "Hey there Sora, havin' a good day then, the shore is a callin' to ya I take it?", he wheezed.

Zolephant the carriage guy, he had a last name but in my mind he was the carriage guy so it stuck and that's what I've called him ever since.

"You know me Zolephant, it's home away from home, I couldn't stay away even if I tried!", I answered with a grin.

Home, what a sweet memory that was, bitter too but I was thankful anyways. Bitterness faded with time, the good memories got even better.

It didn't take long for the carriage to come to a halt, I hopped out, tossed Zolephant a coin and then bid him goodbye. First things first, I took of my boots. It wouldn't be nice to have them scuffed or dirtied, which would lead to problems with ol' captain piddle pudge. The feel of the sand beneath my feet was sublime.

I took in a huge breath and then settled myself against a rock near the shoreline; as ever the city of Mont-Saint Michel loomed large on the distant horizon. With the cool water caressing my feet, the day's exertions caught up to me and the gently blowing breeze lulled me to sleep. I dreamed of the ancient city and what mysteries it may hold.

I woke up after an inordinate amount of time to some really loud. "What in the world is going on here?" , I yawned, my voice still sleep heavy.

I rubbed my eyes to drive the last remnants of the sleepy haze I was in and then promptly came to a standstill.

My breathing stilled as my eyes flit about, taking in my surrounds. Gone was the rock I rested upon and the vast stretch of sand running to the sea were nowhere to be seen. Instead the sight that greeted me was something different entirely. It seemed like a town or a city of some sort, dimly lit via lanterns across the city and the floor was paved stone.

Then just like that, a crash and my attentions were brought back to the matter at hand. "What in the world is going on here?" , I whispered to myself. I took in the scene.

Three animal men, a mouse, a duck and a dog, wearing some variation of the musketeer uniform by the looks of it were taking on some very…uh, dark looking creatures for lack of a better word. They looked like over grown ants with beady yellow eyes, what else was I supposed to think.

"Oh, well, I guess I should go help." , I stepped forward as my hand reached for my weapon, ready to lay a beat down.

The powers that be however had other ideas though as my hand met thin air.

Apparently I had nothing I could fight with, I cursed under my breath, "Well this is just great, at a gunfight and not a knife in sight!" I hesitated, trying to make up my mind.

I had no weapon and I had no idea about the enemy, once that would not have mattered but training with the musketeers had instilled a sense of caution if not outright prudence in the face of an unknown situation.

The sense of caution though could only go so far as I threw it to the proverbial wind and prepared to charge. They needed help and they looked like fellow musketeers, all for one and one for all may be a cheesy line but the concept was sound and he kept his oaths very seriously. Besides, he could always ask questions later.

With that he charged then proceeded to promptly skid to a halt and almost lose his balance. Apparently the duck man had decided to get serious, raising his rapier to the sky he said something I couldn't make out. Lo and behold, lightning rained down from the sky, blinding golden streaks directed upon those ant things and demolished all on impact.

My mouth fell open as I grasped what was happening. A mage, I was seeing an honest to god mage. If my brain had been completely present at that moment I might have questioned myself about what a mage was doing dressed like a musketeer.

The last time I had seen a mage was when Kairi went away with Riku to the Royal School of Swords and Sorcery to train, Kairi had been good but nothing on this level at that point in time. Mages were rare in my part of the world so seeing one always left me in awe.

I scrambled to my feet.

"Hey, that was great. I've never seen someone use lightning magic on that scale. Say, what is this place anyways, what are you guys doing here and what were those black ant thingies anyways?" I was shooting my mouth of but I really didn't care, this situation was just bizarre.

I waited for them to answer but the Mouse man just turned to the Duck man, "Good one Donald, now that the heartless are taken care let's hurry and save the princess."

The Dog man interjected, "Gawrsh Mickey, I get the feeling that we can't trust Captain Pete. Are you sure princess Minnie is trapped in a place like this?"

Mickey sighed, "We have no choice Goofy, the princess is missing and the musketeers are in a lot of trouble because it happened on our watch. We hafta follow every lead we get."

Donald piped in his two cents, "I don't like this one bit, but I'll follow you Mickey because that's what friends are for."

"Aww, gee Donald, Thanks!" Mickey smiled back at him.

Goofy then broke the moment, "Come on guys we're running out of time, lets hurry."

With that they turned around to leave, I growled as I reached for them, "Hey wait up, I just asked you a question. Don't just straight up ignore me!" He grabbed on to Mickey's shoulder only for his hand to fall straight through.

They sprinted off leaving me behind with even more questions. What was going on and who were these people? And what was that about not being able to trust Captain Pete? Sure no one liked the guy much but that was it right, nothing sinister was afoot. Captain Pete and sinister, the image made me laugh.

I huffed and made to follow, as I recounted what was happening. I was in a city I had never seen before, had run into people p I had never seen before and apparently I couldn't touch them. Though now that I think about, that Mickey had looked kind of familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it.

Whatever, those heartless were the more pressing issue anyways. They gave me a very bad feeling, kind of like my heart was slowly being pulled straight out of my body. Where had they come from?

I'm pretty sure news like this would have reached a place even as closed off as destiny Islands. I sure as heck had never heard about or seen anything like this in the two years I'd been a part of the musketeers.

My musings suddenly came to a stop and so did I, Looking around I noticed no trace of the trio I was following. "Way to go Sora you utter twit, you forget to focus on what was important as usual.", I admonished myself.

Focus had always been my problem, Riku and Kairi had pointed that out to me throughout our childhood.

I looked around trying to guess at where they might have gone. No dice, all I could see where quaint multi storied buildings, alleys, passageways and a heck of a lot of stairs. This city was starting to look a heck of a lot more stranger than any other city I'd ever seen, granted I hadn't seen other cities…well I hadn't seen any cities bar the one I lived in and even then I'd never ventured out of town. I'd never had the time.

So now I could add lost to my list of problems. I had to think here or I could be in a lot more trouble than I first realized. I was deep in thought when I heard it, footsteps, they were close. Then I head a slight growl, my body tensed as the growl gave way to an animalistic roar.

I bolted, I had no idea what was chasing me and I wasn't too keen on looking back to check lest I slip and end up as some monster's dinner. That was so not the way I wanted to leave this world. Unfortunately, whatever it was that was a lot faster than I was. A swipe at my ankles and I was down for the count, thankfully I wasn't on or near any stairs or else it would in a guarantee broken neck.

Maybe that would have been better than what was going to happen now. Still not the way I wanted to leave the world, I mean I hadn't even kissed a girl yet. What would grandpa say when I met him in the afterlife, I bet he'd disappointed. I closed my eyes; waiting for what I was certain was the end…and waited and waited and waited.

I cracked an eye open, maybe whatever it was had decided I wasn't a meaty enough snack. I got up and dusted myself of, chuckling I turned around straight into a set of dazzling white teeth, they were quite sharp. Okay, quite was an understatement, they were razor sharp and attached to quite possibly the largest most colorful lion I had ever seen.

It appeared like the lion was made out of a rainbow, the hues and shades made for an interesting visual. The lion's stature was no less regal however and no less dangerous. Mauled to death by a funny looking lion creature, I didn't know whether to laugh or be disappointed.

I did my best not to meet its eyes lest it feel threatened. Finally something useful I'd learned at school, unless this didn't work because then I was dead. Thanks for nothing school, I knew you'd be the death of me but did anyone listen, nope.

Get of your lazy bum and get to school Sora, I swear if I die here I was haunting them for the rest of my ghostly life. To my relief, the lion backed off. I still didn't move though, no need to take stupid risks.

The lion tilted its head to one side as if trying to gauge me, and then he started sniffing. Okay then, I'm definitely going to have to lay off those cakes that Bunny made with the questionable ingredients, this was getting absurd. After it was done with its inspection, to my relief gave of a few yips and ran around in circles before coming up to me and lowering its head. Didn't it want me to pet it?

Tentatively I rubbed my hand in its head and it let out a purr, I grew bolder and scratched behind its ears and under its chin, gone was the huge beast and in its place was a mewling overlarge house cat.

"Who's a good kitty, who's a good boy, you are, yes you are."

I couldn't help but laugh, not every day do you get to pet a lion made out of rainbows you know.

Once it had its fill, it started nudging me.

"What's up boy, do you want something. Is something wrong?" , I questioned with a skeptical look, surely he wasn't directing me, was he? He pawed at me before staring insistently down a particular path.

"What is it, do you want me to follow you?"

He nodded to my request and the walked off, a look over its shoulder as questioning why I was moving.

I just shrugged and started after him. So the overly large beast kitty had a level of sentience. That's it, I give up trying to make sense of this, it's time to go with the flow and hope it leads to a pond and not a waterfall.

As the Lion led me through a series of twisting alleys and stairwells, I quickly gave up trying to memorize the route, it hurt my head and everything looked the same. I was really thankfully for the lion. Soon though after a right turn up an alley of staircases we passed a through a door and the architecture changed slightly.

It was the still the paved stone that was everywhere around the city but there were drains on side on the walls.

"Hmm, is this the sewers?" , I mumbled to myself, but something felt off.

Why was there a draft? I put the thought out off the back of my as I followed the lion through another few turns.

The scene I came upon was not something I was expecting. A series of jail cells, they were decrepit, some almost falling apart. It looked like a dungeon of some sort. A sense of realization dawned upon me.

The maze like city, the similar architecture designed to confuse and disorient and the dungeon in the midst of it. This whole city was a huge prison; I hadn't seen any guards though. Obviously this place didn't need them, if anyone was actually able to escape the cell they'd be long dead before they managed to reach the entrance and if by any miracle they were able to that the swim to the shore would surely prove impossible.

"Hey! Is anyone there, we're stuck down here. Please help us.", that sounded like Mickey. I followed the pleas for help till I came upon a cell only to see Mickey, Donald and Goofy locked inside. My first instinct was to try and pull open the door, obviously it didn't budge.

"Nice Sora, who did you think you were, Hercules!?"

I'd read way too many stories as a child, the hero of Olympus was one of my favorites. I looked around trying to see if there was something I could use to open the door, no such luck. I turned around to ask my companion if there was something we could do, to my shock the Lion had disappeared without any trace. I bashed my head into the wall beside me, what thump! the thump! hell thump! Is thump! Happening thump!

Goofy chose that moment to speak up, "Gee, I wonder who would want to lock us up in place like this?"

Donald quacked back, "Well, who do you think. It was whoever kidnapped the princess." "I bet it was that vile Captain Pete!", Goofy replied.

"Well golly, I wouldn't know Goofy. He's the Captain of the Musketeers. Why would he do something like that? Besides, we didn't see who locked us in because we got knocked out from behind. It could have been anyone.", Mickey explained.

"I don't like this one bit. We have to get out of here.", Goofy said as he backed up a bit before charging at the cell door only to smack against it and fall.

Donald frowned, "Any other ideas you got genius!" "Come on guys, let's not fight amongst ourselves, I'm sure if we think together we'll get some idea.", Mickey chastened.

Donald's Eyes lit up suddenly, "Oh I know what to do." He pointed his Rapier towards the door and shouted, "Blizzard!" A moment's wait and nothing happened. He tried again, "Blizzard!" nothing again. "Come on work you stupid thing!", he tried again and again but to no avail. "I don't know what's wrong but magic doesn't seem to be working.", he sighed.

Mickey then added with some spirit, "Well any- we ha—to c—e up wit- s—ethi-!"

"Huh, what was that?" ,I leaned further forward to better catch what they were saying. "We-l, i- o- of ide—s, what ab—t you Goo-?"

Donald's bill was moving fine. What in the world was wrong with my ears? Their words were fading out completely till all I could here was nothingness; my head was starting to hurt.

Then suddenly, was that rushing water I was hearing in the distance, it seemed like a big wave crashing towards me.

"Fi—m-!" , a disembodied voice sounded out nowhere. In my confused, hurting state I couldn't manage a coherent thought.

"What, where the hell is this voice come from?"

I held my head in my hands as my vision started blurring. The pain was getting worse.

"Find me!", the voice boomed again.

"Find who, find what? Screw you stupid voice." , I grimaced, oh if my mother could hear me now, she'd pour bleach down my throat.

The headache grew unbearable, I screamed.

"Sora, you must find me!" , again the voice resounded but I was too gone to care.

Finally the headache reached a crescendo and just as I thought my head would explode a thunderous wave of running water crashed into me and I was swept away.

"Waaaaaaahhhhh." , I screamed as I woke, trying to swim and reach air.

I gasped upon realizing I was on land, the shore where I had fallen asleep. My breathing was staggered, shaken and deep. There was no dungeon, no twisted streets in sight, no strange animal men and most definitely no creepy disembodied voices telling me to find them.

I was certain this trail would end with me tied up in dark creepy room that belonged to an axe murderer. I was totally okay with not taking the candy from the proverbial stranger. I took a deep breath, willing away the visions of the experience I'd just had, dream or nightmare I couldn't really place it. Well whatever, It wasn't important.

I reached into my pocket and took out something very near and dear to my heart. It was a charm; green pink hued flower petal shaped shells came together in the shape like a star. On one of the petals you could see a brown color pencil had scribbled on my likeness. Kairi's lucky charm, hastily handed to me as she and Riku departed far away from me to live out the rest of their lives.

"Don't you ever forget, Wherever you go, I'm always with you." ,She'd said that when she handed this to me she departed.

I'd been shocked, my brain blanked and all I could do was nod willing my mouth shut so I didn't be me and say something stupid. She'd then turned away from me and that was that. 3 years had passed in the blink of an eye.

I looked at the lucky charm again and reaffirmed my conviction to see my friends again, then putting the charm back in pocket I turned around and left. If I'd bothered to look up, I would have seen the city of Mont Saint-Michel emitting a faint ethereal glow. Somewhere, something in the universe had shifted and a change was to come. Me, I was wondering what I'd have for breakfast next morning, eggs and turkey bacon probably. Yeah those would do just fine.


End file.
